Chapter 28

[Greyson]

"This is why I don't go outside often." Marty lifted his foot and grimaced at the sight of deer shit on the crevasse of his left shoe. He picks up a stick among a clutter of other sticks and attempts to scrap the junk off, whispering something about stupid animals and bacterial forest diseases.

After his store, we headed back to the woods to find traces of the rogue Remington.

Nothing Marty has said in the last hour has made any sense to me. He kept his volume rather low, because the last time I got irritated with his voice, I threw his canister of water across a ravine and we all watched as it dropped to the bottom with a echoed thump.

"Are you sure you're part werewolf, because I swear you act like a poodle." Leo scrunched his nose at Marty, looking perturbed

Vincent snickered. "Poo-dle, get it!" He pointed to Marty's shoes like an insolent little kid. The two brothers burst out laughing and gave each other a high-five, while Marty glared dangers at them. "Don't make me throw this stick at you! I mean it-

"Will all of you stay focused?" I growled. "We are trying to search for my mate!"

"Is he always like this?" Marty asked Vincent, keeping his words small and simple

This was a new talent of his; he learns pretty quickly.

Vincent shrugged, and then murmured. "I don't hang out with him often, like my brother. Alpha Grey was sheltered as a kid."

Teens these days have no respect. Selfish twerps.

Leo inhaled deeply catching his brother's attention and slowly exhaled with his gaze focused on me. "We will get her back, man. That stinky old man won't get very far and I doubt he can go against us."

The calm expression on his face didn't settle my tense nerves. In fact, I wanted to punch in his perfectly straight teeth. Easy-going people have always bothered me, because growing up, I never got the chance to have pleasurable childhood like most kids because dad always busied me with Alpha responsibilities. I had to absorb so much at a young age.

My reaction to Leo was probably insensitive, but with my blood boiling right now, I can't take responsibility for my actions. "Over-confidence when you don't use your recourses and abilities will not help you succeed at anything." Then I flung my finger at Marty. "You have the capability to reunite families or loved ones; catch criminals; and serve the community. Yet you cowardly hide yourself in that tiny store collecting and selling garbage. Do you not feel ashamed, dishonoring your family legacy?"

Marty looked down at his feet guiltily.

Vincent thought I would overlook him, so he slowed his pace, keeping himself at the back.

"And you. I'll happily tell Charlotte that you slacked off while looking for her beloved sister!" I scorned. It wasn't fair that I was the only person going mad over my mate, so I had to draw Vincent to my pathetic state.

His eyes widened in alarm. "No...don't tell her that! She hates me enough!"

The dreadfulness on my face stated some part of me I never thought I had.

"If it were the other way around-if Charlotte were the one in that rogues dirty clutches, how would you react?"

His shoulders tense, his hands fisted and his jaw clenched. "I would kill the sorry prick." The more he thought about it his eyes began to darken in shade, allowing his wolf to also express his distaste.

"I'm glad we share a mutual understanding." I nodded.

I waved Marty forward. "The only way for me to easily track Celeste's location is to get an anchor on the rogues scent." From there the mate bond will kick in. Because Celeste and I weren't completely bonded, there were limitations to our connection. I couldn't yet affectively track her down with my senses, but at least I can feel a slight pull if I'm close to her.

"How many times do I have to tell you? I can only find objects, not moving people!" Marty said nervously. His fingers fidgeted on his backpack strap.

"You can't, or you won't? Have you even tried?" I spat right in front of his face that he shriveled back every time I took a breath. If he could shrink any lower, I'd think he was doing limbo.

"I can try..." He sounded skeptical. "Let me change into my wolf form first. It's been a while so it may take some time to adjust to the transition."

"Unfortunately we don't have much time, but fine." I muttered.

We gave him space to transform. Marty made a stance right between us, then took a long deep breath closing his eyes. Leo, Vincent and I watched intently for the sound of bones and joints moving but nothing. Marty stood like a statue as if constipated or something.

He opened one eye and peaked at us.

"What are you doing?" I asked him.

"I can't transform if all of you are watching! I can't concentrate. It's very intimidating, you know! When I was a kid, in physical education class, the kids in my class would love watching me mess up and laugh because I was stupidly clumsy. The werewolf kids made fun of me for being the clumsiest wolf of the pack. When I was a teen and finally transformed, I was still clumsy!" He said appallingly.

I sighed and looked at the poor guy. "Marty, you're a grown man now. You need to forget all that's happened in the past because it's weighing you down." It was weird giving a lecture to man that was probably twice my age.

He looked at me as if my request was near to impossible. "Kids are cruel. That's why I don't plan to have any." He said point blank.

Here lies the last of the Marty linage. That's what they should engrave into his grave.

"Get a hold of yourself man!" I slapped him and his body moved the direction of my force.

Both Leo and Vincent's mouths dropped.

"You are going to man up now and show me you have what it takes to remain in this pack. I can't stand quitters and you man are not about to show me you are one. S your future alpha, I command you to SHIFT RIGHT NOW! If you don't I will hereby exile you from this pack, from this town and label you as a rogue!" I yelled using every inch of commanding voice I had in me.

Marty absolutely stunned didn't move for a minute, but when he processed everything I said, he immediately got on two feet and shifted. His clothes ripped as his body contorted into the shape of a grey wolf.

I scared him so much he forgot to save his clothes.

When he finished shifting he swayed a little as he adjusted to his wolf form.

I snapped my fingers between his eyes. "Hey, you okay?" I asked him.

His butt sat down and he looked at me confused.

"Dude, you looked just like your dad back there." Leo commented.

"Shut up." I responded. "Marty are you able to find a scent?"

He nodded his head without saying a word.

"You know you can communicate with me?" I pointed at my head.

His forehead creased as he thought seriously.

I smell you. I heard him say.

Leo snorted. "You don't smell him, you sense him because he's an Alpha. If you think harder, you might even sense Alpha Bennett with my dad."

Marty thought harder again. "I sense more people with them."

"They must have been able to gather a search party." Vincent said.

"Marty can you sense a foreign presence?" I asked.

It didn't make sense that Alphas were oh-so powerful, but they can't poses the talent trackers have. When the king, asked the witch to give the knight powers, why did she not include it into the full package. Was it to limit us from having too much power?

Having too much power was often found to be dangerous.

That's mainly the reason why I wasn't allowed go outside unless it was the time of the Taking.

Define foreign. Marty tilted his wolf head to the side as his tail waged back and for behind him. His mannerism looked somewhat playful, but I had to remind myself he was somewhat acquitted.

I clamped my teeth to hold back from yelling at him. "The rogue. Can you sense the rogue?" It should have not been necessary to repeat myself when our mission was obvious.

What does he smell like? He asked lowering his wet nose to the ground and sniffing in all seriousness.

"Anything that smells odd to you." Rogues give off different scents but all of them didn't have the greatest of fragrances. The first think one would think when they notice them is that they are enemies and they don't belong here. The primal instinct to protect the pack usually kicks in after that.

"You will know when you find him." Leo chided.

I reached into my back pocket and pulled out one of Celeste's hair tie, or rather Lexie's. During Celeste's stay, she occasionally borrowed a couple of Lexie's things when she really needed it. Occasionally Celeste would absentmindedly leave it everywhere and forget about it. Being a little tedious about keeping things in order, I would pick up after her and put it in my pocket to return to her at some other rime of the day.

The one I had in my hand right now, I noticed earlier when I was rummaging in my pocket. I had probably forgotten it the last time I wore these pants, which would mean the person who dressed me, while I was unconscious, got these pants from where I had left them in my room.

"Here, you can smell Celeste on this. You might have a better understanding of who you are looking for because her scent is mixed with the rogues at the moment."

"What are we going to do when we find her?" Vincent asked.

"We are going to make sure that rogue gets what he deserves."

"A good bath." Leo teases. I lifted my fist at him and he cringed back laughing. "I'm kidding! I will personally help you get your revenge. You can count on me."

Marty barks and he motions his head to make us follow him. He bolts to a sprint and we run right behind him. My heart immediately quickens as I think he has found Celeste.

To our surprise, we stop right in front of the giant lake that prohibited humans from entering. It wasn't very far from the waterfall, because the stream connected the bodies of water.

No wonder it was hard for us to find him. The rogue kept himself near the water. The task of finding him was going to be more difficult than I thought. The lake was probably the size of three football fields.

"Where is she," I muttered more to myself.

I hear a collective bark coming from Marty, but I don't see him anymore.

"I think he went this way." Leo jumped ahead of me.

We were complete open when a stray bullet fired and grazed Leo's shoulder.

"Leo," Vincent yelled, His instincts instantly switched his protective mode and he placed himself in front of me to.

"I'm okay!" Leo hissed grasping his fresh wound. Blood was soaking through his shirt. "We need to cover Greyson. He can't afford getting shot again."

"We have to find cover!" I ordered them.

Where the hell was Marty?

He had better not ran with his tail between his legs.

"Where did that bullet come from?" Vincent said covering his head with his arms.

We took cover behind the trees and waited for another shot.

"Hand me your first aid," Vincent asked Leo.

Leo tossed it at him and Vincent quickly started applying first aid on his brother. However he wasn't really great at applying the bandage and the wraps wound loosen. Vincent was visibly turning white and cold sweat dripped from the corner of his head.

He had never experienced this much action before, unlike his brother who had six years of experience under his belt. Leo stared intently at the terrain analyzing the situation, not really paying attention at how Vincent was unsuccessfully apply medical treatment.

I snatched the medical kit from Vincent's shaking hands. "Keep visual, I'll do this."

Vincent gulped and nodded, then positioned himself at a better peripheral view of the lake.

The bleeding stopped and I securely fashioned the binding around Leo's arm. "It's a good thing this was just a graze."

"Believe me, I'm relieved as-

Another shot echoed and we automatically ducked.

"It's coming from over there!" Vincent pointed to the top of a tree.

"It's him. I can smell him." But how come I can't find Celeste? 'Let's split up. It will be harder for him to find a target when we are moving around."

Leo and Vincent nodded and ran to different directions. The shooter, who we assumed to be Remington, aimed at Vincent.

Vincent shifted as the bullet directed at him and it zoomed past his head, hitting a tree.

"Hey!" I yelled, trying to catch attention.

I didn't stay in place, knowing that would be a bad idea. Unbuttoning my pants, I shifted and left my clothes. The only way to find the location of the shooter was to go up, so I found a tall land mass and propelled my hind feet to leap onto a strong sturdy branch.

Since my fur was black, I could easily camouflage into the trees. The bullets fired and hit objects beneath me. Remington wasn't able to see me, much to my relief.

Marty was still no show and I was really pissed off that he just ran away like that. I just hope he hadn't been shoot and bleeding to death somewhere.

Far ahead, I saw a flash of movement and a bird fly away from one tree. I made a gamble and jumped out from my hiding spot and towards that location.

If Remington was hiding there, I would have my jaws in his throat soon.

*

[Celeste's POV]

Again my head plunged under that water. My legs were tired but I forced myself to keep afloat. It was hard considering my ankle was tied to a long rope and a heavy rock.

Remington had tied my hands behind my back and thrown me in the middle of a lake.

Where I was, I wasn't so sure. All I knew was that I wanted to live and I desperately wished Greyson was here to save me. I hope he was going alright. Holding back the sob in my throat, I continued to kick my legs up.

Without warning my calves began to cramp and I sang down.

"Help" I screamed, though I doubt anyone could hear me.

My heart raced and all my ears could pick up were the sound of me struggling in the water. My body was bobbing up and down like an apple in a barrel full of water. The wind brushed against my face and that gave me reprieve knowing I still had air to breathe.

My chin lifted up as I took gasps of air, but sometimes I would also swallow water. The rope tying my hands together burned the skin and my shoulders were starting to feel ache. The situation was becoming graver by the minute and Remington was nowhere in sight.

Why did he just leave me here? Did he intend to kill me?

My legs couldn't take the exertion and I realized I was sinking. Hopelessly, I watched as the water engulfed me whole and my hair floated up as I sank further down.

When the last air bubble escaped my lips, my eyes casted down. Above the water, I saw the sun shining down at me. Mom told me as a kid never to look at the sun, because it would burn your eyes.

Right now, I didn't really care.

The light did hurt my eyes, but it gave me some hope that I was still very much alive. If I die right now, at least my last memory wasn't total darkness.

A figure hit the water and I thought I was imagining things. The corner of my mouth twitched as I smiled, or I tried to.

There was Fluffy swimming towards me. It was probably just a figment of my imagination. In the face of death, you usually think of the person you love.

Love.

I almost forgot. I haven't told him yet.

Greyson...I thought. Greyson, I'm sorry.

This was no crazy tear-jerking movie. I wasn't a hero who bravely died in war. When I die today, I will have regrets. And the one that pained my heart the most was the fact that I was able to say...

Greyson, I love you.

NOTE: Dec 24, 2016

HAPPY HOLIDAYS YOU FREAKISHLY AMAZING PEOPLE!!! I'M BACK!!! I've graduated and I'm ready to write again after a year of constant chaos. I have edited this book again so you will find some changes to the style of writing. This book has been closed off from the public but I have made it visible once more. SO YOU BETTER BE GRATEFUL, you marshmallows! Let's make one thing clear though IF YOU COPY MY BOOK...I WILL FIND YOU.

BE WARNED. xo